Biden, who became a single parent juggling a political career and two young boys after his wife and one-year-old daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972, made the appeal during a speech in Connecticut.
Talking about how the crash demonstrated the importance of helping parents struggling with work and raising families, he pointed out how he “could not afford the child care” on his salary as a senator. “It made me realise how difficult it is for the vast majority of people who need help,” Biden said at a child care centre in the state capital of Hartford.
This trip, is part of a national tour to gather support for his proposals. It’s come during a crucial phase for his historic but controversial spending plans, which face opposition from his own side besides Republicans.
This isn’t the first time the president’s spoken publicly about the crash that killed his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi. He, however, reframed the horrific episode as a learning moment when he realised most Americans don’t have an extended family’s help, which he benefited from, while struggling to raise families.
